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Thursday, July 14, 2011

[Tour with PL] ~ Standing at ESB

I apologize for super delays in sharing our travel stories. You know how difficult it is to take time out for blogging when a toddler is around and especially when she has already started feeling that Mamma loves laptop more than her. :D
Okey, I was saying that we headed to Empire State Building. I guess, ESB again doesn't need a formal introduction. But for those who don't know much about it, let me share a glint on it.

Empire State Building: Is a landmark in NYC, a 102 storied building, stole its name from the nick name of NY- 'Empire State'. It stood asworld's tallest building for about 40 years since when its completion in 1931. Well, it isn't the tallest building any more in the world or in USA either. But what makes the difference is that this skyscraper was constructed more than 80 years ago. The ESB has one of the most popular outdoor observatories in the world, having been visited by over 110 million people. It has 2 observation decks, one at 86th floor and second at 102nd floor.

With our NYpass, entry to 86th floor was free, it requires an additional fee to enter 102nd floor. There was a really huge Q, and we thought it would not a be a wise decision to opt for a 102 floor entry. We had time constraints as well. Also, people who visited both floors did not find 'much' difference in looking out from 102 and 86th floor. [Well, it still must be worth watching from 102nd floor provided you have enough time to spend].

**sorry about the bad quality of the photos.**

The Q was 'wearyingly' long, we took almost an hour to reach the admission counter. Many kids were driving their parents nuts. Luckily, *Alhamdulillah* Liya remained in her 'super cool' nature, did not trouble us at all. All she wanted was 'something to munch' on her stroller 'feeding cup' {I had packed up her favorite chewing items like dates, cashews, peanuts etc}. She usually doesn't like being in a crowd, that was my belief- just my belief! But she was all excited to be surrounded by such a big mob. At times, she got down from her stroller and ran across. She entertained people {otherwise unsocial girl}, she took out a bundle of gestures to make ladies in the Q laugh aloud. Soome other times, she pushed the line barricades, sang several rhymes without any help/request. {Her favorite rhyme throughout the trip was 'Humpty Dumpty...'. She might have rhymed it at least 100 times during the whole trip- but I am clueless on how did she choose that rhyme!}. She kept on saying Hi, Bye and See You to everyone that * I am very sure* those families standing near us were just fed up of pretending that they are enjoying it. :)

She was wearing a 'pearly', long Indian frock. Two young ladies standing behind me were dying to see it 'from head to toe'. But she did not let them enjoy the beauty of her dress because she was busy running across and poking kids sitting on the strollers. :) Few times, she pushed hair and dress of people standing in front of her. Guess, how embarrassing is the situation, when they look at and you have to offer a sheepish smile!
We spend almost 2-3 hrs in the Q. Finally we got into the lift. Some people were climbing the stairs, midway. As we went up we could feel the pressure difference in our ears. Liya was struggling hard to close her ears with her tiny hands. Finally we 'landed' on 86th floor. It was crowded *than I ever imagined*, we had tough time finding a place to look outside. Honestly, I have been to 3 observation decks in last 2 months *including the one near Niagara falls*, and this was the 'jam-packed' of all these.

The view from ESB, I have no words to explain – breath-taking, in simple words. Entire New York city was being seen- all land marks which I have heard/read/seen in photographs including Statue Of Liberty. As the city is the motherland of numerous skyscrapers and landmarks, the view from the top was simply awesome.What did Liya see there? Hmm, she was shouting 'car, beda(bird), water (hudson river)... Hmm.., standing on one of the famous skyscrapers in the world, that's what she saw, just that! She was all excited to see 'tiny' cars.

Wow, that's where we were just a couple of months ago! Did you get the headphones tour guide? It was tricky identifying the buildings using the map they gave us, until we realized we were looking at the North part of the map and the West view from the ESB! lol! I got a lump in my throat when I saw the Statue of Liberty from up there.Visiting from VoiceBoks!Lisa

You were in our backyard!! Well, we don't live in NYC anymore, we are now on Long Island. I'm so glad you had a good trip!! It is a beautiful view and a wonderful city! Liya is sooooo cute!! What a good sport!! Thanks for the great pictures!!! Have a great weekend!